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Author Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions  (Read 656796 times)

racnor

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-9
« Reply #1365 on: December 06, 2012, 11:08:12 pm »

But Fale might be.
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RAM

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-9
« Reply #1366 on: December 07, 2012, 06:12:11 pm »

This is probably not the time for it, but we may want to see what multiple impair undead spells on the same target do.
Also, zombies not entering the forest may be a diplomatic measure. Sending a zombie into the forest may make the forest hostile to us...
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racnor

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-9
« Reply #1367 on: December 07, 2012, 07:13:08 pm »

This is probably not the time for it, but we may want to see what multiple impair undead spells on the same target do.
Also, zombies not entering the forest may be a diplomatic measure. Sending a zombie into the forest may make the forest hostile to us...
I think there's more chance of a generally unfriendly trap/intelligence than one that specifically hates zombies. Besides, these zombies are to far from Curo to follow any command smarter than KILL! Something else has stopped them.
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monk12

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-9
« Reply #1368 on: December 13, 2012, 08:36:47 pm »

First priority!!!!

Quote
The cold hand of the zombie scratches a furrow down Omo's arm

Magically inspect Omo and his injury for traces of necromancy

We don't yet know know if it's contractible. Is the magic effect contagious? Do humans killed by zombies become zombies?  Is transfer of fluids enough? We need to know, and if there are any necromantic traces left in Omo's injury Get it out.
Good catch, I forgot about that.

We should definitely check Omo's injury immediately, but I don't think that we have much to worry about.  These are almost certainly  good old raised corpses, not the modern viral zombie fad.  All the same, I wouldn't put it past whichever necromancer we're facing to develop some sort of spell that makes injuries fester via the draining of vitality or something similar.

You walk over to Omo and grab his arm, ignoring his protests. "Omo, you don't have any idea where that zombie's been! Let me clean it out." Thankfully, your Necromantic Sight reveals no traces of magic- you've heard stories of monsters that can spread like an infection, but you see nothing to suggest that these zombies possess that ability. You do see a fair bit of mud in the wound, though, and a brief glance at your controlled zombie's hands confirm that not only are they filthy, they are partially rotten. Taking the waterskin from Omo's pack, you carefully clean out the scratches before improvising a bandage out of a clean pair of socks.

"Would you cut that out, Nym! That smarts!"
"There are no Life Mages out here if you get an infection, you big baby. Hopefully that priest can do a better job of dressing it when we get back to the village."

Take this chance to more carefully examine the zombie up close before we do

We still don't know the location of the kids yet, we made need the mana and a Destroy Undead spell can be practiced just as easily on our own creations as it can be on this thing.  I say we just have the thing stand still and cut off its head, then go search for the kids in the forest.

Or alternatively, have the zombie walk past the tree line before us after we make sure that the kids aren't withing sight range.  This would test if there's any specific reason why they aren't entering like an insta-death field of some sort.   If the undead can't enter for some reason it could be used as shelter for the village people.

This.

After admiring your handiwork on Omo's arm, you take the opportunity to admire the handiwork of some other Necromancer, presumably Curo Nightroar. The Necromantic Energy making up the zombie you've commanded is quite intricate. Whether this is due to the skill of the Necromancer, the quality of the base corpse, or your own improved Necromantic Sight is unclear- you'll have to raise some more zombies for comparison purposes. In life, the zombie was probably a middle-aged man. It's difficult to tell more than that, as much of the creature's flesh is rotten and bloated. The left leg is especially rotten, and upon closer inspection appears to have been mangled rather thoroughly.

With a thought, you direct the zombie to begin walking into the forest. Omo steps back in surprise. "What is it doing?"
"I'm sending it into the forest. I want to know if there's some reas...on..." Your mouth hangs open, astonished. As the zombie steps beneath the branches of the forest, it disappears from your Necromantic Sight.

Hastily, you command it to stop walking- you are still in direct mental contact. You can see the zombie obediently standing in front of a tree, but you cannot see the Necromantic Energy that animates it. You quickly review the zombie's status- it seems unharmed. Completely unchanged, in fact. Commanding it to turn around, you are again surprised by what the zombie sees- namely, nothing. You and Omo are invisible as far as the zombie is concerned, although it can still see the rock Omo is leaning against and the tall grass that rustles in the cold night breeze.

"It couldn't see them."
"What?"
"That's why the zombies didn't chase the kids any further. Once they got under the trees, the zombies couldn't see them, so they stopped chasing them."
"And just stood around all day?" Omo says doubtfully.
"I guess." You shrug. "Let me check this quick."

A quick experiment confirms your suspicions- when you swap places with your zombie, you remain invisible to the zombie's sense. Waving Omo to join you, you watch through the zombie's eyes as the elf disappears between one step and the next, right at the edge of the trees.

"So what does it mean? Why can't it see what's in the forest?"
"I don't know. It just can't."

Oh well, destroy the commanded zombie, and keep looking for the kids. If we manage to save the kids and the town wants to give us a reward, try to see if we can manage getting a polearm out of it. Also, once in town, remember to clean and treat Omo's wound.
well, okay then. We could try and refine our Impair Undead spell into a true Destroy Undead spell, or we could save our mana and just kill the zombie.
Maybe later. Right now a hatchet to the head should be better. Order it not to move nor resist. That, or order it to bash itself on the head. We can try to refine the spell once we are in a more controlled situation.

"What are you going to do with... that?" Omo says, gesturing toward the zombie in distaste.
"I think I've learned all I can here." You say, commanding the zombie to lie down. "Do you want to do the honors?"
"Yeah, sure. Lovely." Omo hefts his quarterstaff, eying the zombie, then swings it over his head like a great club. The zombie's skull bursts like a rotten watermelon, splashing bits of grey matter and blood everywhere. Your stomach turns uneasily, and Omo glowers at the end of his staff, trying to wipe off the bloody mess in the dirt. "This Necromancy stuff is gross."
"Did I ever tell you about the fish I swallowed?"
"...no?"
"I'll tell you later, when my stomach isn't so queasy. Let's get on with it."

Omo quickly picks up the trail, leading the way into the forest. The ancient, gnarled trees stand tightly packed, choking away the undergrowth until all that remains is a carpet of dead leaves and fallen branches. The thick branches block all but the rarest shaft of moonlight. Omo is forced to give in to necessity and lights a torch, the light casting sinister shadows on the trees. You've never seen a malicious tree, but these come close, clawing past one another to reach the far away light- they seem to glower at passersby.

Despite the open space beneath the trees, the going is slow. The trail zigs and zags abruptly, and even crosses over itself once. The poor lighting helps disguise the trail in several places, where the children jumped over a log and changed direction, or where they doubled back after running headlong into a tree. Omo mutters angrily under his breath, suspiciously eying the shadows and rubbing his quarterstaff before returning to the search. The forest is quiet- perfectly silent except for the sound of your passage.

Finally, the trail leads into a small clearing. There is nothing to suggest why this particular bit of forest is free of the tall trees- the ground appears to be smooth and flat here, and clear enough for grass and weeds to push through the dead leaves. In the center of the clearing a pair of young trees rise out of the ground, vying with one another to reach the canopy and the life-giving light beyond. The open space in the canopy admits a wide swath of moonlight which clearly illuminates everything in the clearing.

Most notably, it illuminates the small child lying motionless on the ground, face down in the dirt.

Omo runs to the child, peering suspiciously into the shadows before kneeling beside the pajama-clad form. "He's alive!" Omo calls back softly, checking the boy.
"He's alive?"
"Yeah. Unconscious." Omo rolls the boy over, and you blink in surprise. The boy's eyes are open, staring at the sky. Omo wipes a dead leaf away from his face before checking his pulse. "Well. I don't know what's wrong with him."
"Are you sure he's unconscious? I didn't think your eyes stayed open when you went out."
"What do I look like, a doctor? He's unresponsive, anyway." Omo gets to his feet, inspecting the trail.

You take the boy in your arms, giving him a gentle shake. His head lolls to the side, but his eyes don't change. His heartbeat is fine, his breathing regular. He's quite cold- not like a corpse is cold, but like somebody who has been out in the elements too long is cold. Carefully, you bundle him in your cloak, unsure what to do.

"Nym! I found the girl!"

You look up as Omo returns from the edge of the clearing, carrying the child. Following your example, he wraps her in his cloak- just like her brother, the girl is physically fine, but unresponsive, her unseeing eyes gazing at nothing.

"This is bloody strange." Omo grumbles.
"What is?"
"As near as I can tell, the kids were just walking along, then fell. No other tracks nearby, no roots to trip on. They entered the clearing together, then the boy fell here in the middle, then the girl fell while she was running away. I think they've been lying here all day, Nym."
"They're certainly cold enough. How long does it take to die of exposure?"
"The weather's not bad, but it still gets plenty cold at night this early in the year. I doubt they'd have made it to dawn. I don't know if they'll make it back to the village, if they're catatonic."

The kids are in a bad way- you don't know what's wrong with them, but they need medical attention. This whole situation stinks. What do you do?

Spoiler: You (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Spells (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Omo Thunderjaw (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notable Figures (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Planned Experiments (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Maps (click to show/hide)

Grek

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1369 on: December 13, 2012, 08:42:35 pm »

I guess step one would be to get the kids out of the creepy haunted forest of doom.
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bombzero

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1370 on: December 13, 2012, 08:45:52 pm »

Return to village ASAP, something or someone who can't be too friendly to us is probably in the area, we can come back and investigate once the kids are safe.
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Angle

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1371 on: December 13, 2012, 08:48:32 pm »

Flee!
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Felius

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1372 on: December 13, 2012, 08:56:32 pm »

Damn you Grek, bombzero and Angle you managed to post before me this time! :P

But seriously though, yeah, I don't think there's anyway we can get too fancy here without creating major issues or deviating from what we entered the forest to do in the first place, that is, save the kids. So let's carry them back to the village. Do we have any spell in the prestidigitation book that might help?

Hmm, it probably is a waste of mana, but cast detect vitality and detect magic on them, plus examine them for signs of necromantic magic. It might tell us if there's anything wrong with them other than shock and physical illness. It's a bit of paranoia, but as Omo said, the situation looked quite strange. But either way, considering that, it's probably better if we don't take too long around here.

And on another note, we should run some experiments later to figure out if it's something about this particular forest, something about forest in general (unlikely, we'd have noticed it before), or the anti-necromancy wards the village mentioned.
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Cellmonk

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1373 on: December 13, 2012, 09:12:05 pm »

Yeah, seems pretty clear. Get to the village as fast as you can. The stable state of the children is bizarre... that doesn't sound like shock or hypothermia. maybe something stole their souls. In which case we should leave at once and have them examined and possibly saved all the faster.

Good idea with the check vitality. Maybe we'll notice something.
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Fireiy

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1374 on: December 13, 2012, 09:56:42 pm »

Get out of forest ASAP.
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Zako

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1375 on: December 13, 2012, 10:34:51 pm »

Unexplained catatonic state? Mysteriously silent forest where you can't see into or out of it? This stinks of magic, but what type remains to be seen. Getting out of here before the magic takes hold of you would be the best idea, the village would have a much better chance of helping the kids than you do.
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Zavvnao

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1376 on: December 15, 2012, 04:59:05 pm »

((the rp seems to b sleeping for the holidays :3))
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LordBucket

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1377 on: December 15, 2012, 07:31:23 pm »

Carry the kids outside of this strange magic zone we're in. And do it fast. It's possible whatever rendered them unconscious could affect us too if we stay here too long.

Once out of the zone, siphon a point of vitality from both Omo and ourselves and feed it to the kids. Then get them back to the village.

syvarris

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1378 on: December 16, 2012, 05:54:02 pm »

Dang it, I  forgot about this!  And I missed five updates!

Anyways, Omo can cast the minor stuff like detect magic, right?  If so, we should have him cast that and sense vitality.  Our mana is far more important than his.  If anything is wrong with the kids, we should steal vitality from ourself and try to heal the kids a bit.  Ourself because altruism is important if we're trying to be the "good" necromancer.

I wonder if we can turn living people into golems.

anailater

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-10
« Reply #1379 on: December 16, 2012, 06:04:21 pm »

The whiplash in that post is amazing.
Also +1 reader.
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